Survivor Portraits – Leon Milch

February 25, 2021
Holocaust survivor Leon Milch was born in 1932 in Podhajce, Poland, a vibrant town of 6000 people, of which half were Jewish. He and his brother lost both of their parents in the Holocaust.
The hidden ink sketches of Chaim Uryson

February 9, 2021
The hidden ink sketches on Chaim Uryson A collection of eight ink sketches recently piqued our curators’ attention once more. These sketches in our collection were done by Polish Jewish …
Survivor Portraits – Peter Reismann

February 2, 2021
Holocaust survivor Peter Reismann was born in 1939 in Budapest, Hungary. At 4 years old, he remembers hurrying into a dark and small bunker.
The perpetual markings of Auschwitz

January 27, 2021
The perpetual markings of Auschwitz By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and marks 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Only in Auschwitz …
Survivor Portraits – Yvonne Engelman

December 17, 2020
Holocaust survivor Yvonne Engelman was born in 1927 in Dovhe, Czechoslovakia. After promising her father she’d survive, Yvonne survived Auschwitz.
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia

December 17, 2020
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia The waves of Jewish migration to Australia before and after World War II have been turning points in the history of …
Survivor Portraits – Lina Lipton

November 30, 2020
Holocaut survivor Lina Lipton was born in 1923 in Lvov, Poland. The start of the war in 1939 came as a shock, and she survived in hiding under a false name.
Remembering Kristallnacht in Australia

November 9, 2020
Remembering Kristallnacht in Australia On this day 82 years ago, the Nazis unleashed Kristallnacht – or the Night of Broken Glass – a bloody pogrom in Germany, Austria and Sudetenland. …
Survivor Portraits – Lotte Weiss

October 30, 2020
Holocaust survivor Lotte Weiss was born in 1923 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Lotte attributes her survival to a series of miracles. Her parents and five siblings all perished in Auschwitz.
Tehrani tradition in Sydney

October 16, 2020
Tehrani tradition in Sydney The Cadry family story is one of the many personal migration stories told in our feature exhibition, Jews from Islamic Lands. Jacques Cadry, the son and …
Oma’s Coffee Mug

October 7, 2020
A recent addition to our collection, this Villeroy & Boch mug that bears Nazi imagery on its base has an interesting history.
Nuremberg: From the Imperial Castle to Race Laws

October 6, 2020
The history of the Nuremberg Race Laws By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian at Sydney Jewish Museum Throughout history, Nuremberg has attracted much attention. Built in medieval times, the …
Survivor Portraits – Gerty Jellinek

September 29, 2020
Holocaust survivor Gerty Jellinek was born in 1925 in Vienna, Austria. She was 13 at the time of Kristallnacht. Soon afterwards, she fled to Shanghai with her family, where she survived the war.
Remembering the massacre at Babyn Yar

September 29, 2020
The murder of more than 33,000 Jews in Babyn Yar marked one of the largest single ‘open-air shootings’ in the history of the Holocaust, only to be surpassed by the massacre of 50,000 Jews at Odessa and the two-day killing of almost 43,000 Jews in the Lublin district. Today we commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre.
Yom Kippur from Home

September 23, 2020
Yom Kippur from Home Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is often spent in synagogue. Of course, this year for most will be different. While we know we can still …
An Egyptian Rosh Hashana Seder

September 16, 2020
An Egyptian Rosh Hashana Seder The festival of Rosh Hashana is both a joyous celebration and the start of a period of ten days during which Jewish people engage in …
“Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.”

September 4, 2020
“Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.” “What legacy can I leave my children, grandchildren and great-grands? Much love. Yes… Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.” – …
Survivor Portraits – Oscar (David) Benedikt

August 31, 2020
Holocaust survivor Oscar (David) Benedikt was born in 1920 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He described himself as a “spoiled only child” to convey the tragedy of what lay ahead.
100 years of learning

August 14, 2020
100 years of learning It was spring, the scent of flowering linden trees wafted in the air, the bank of a river, my nanny and my stroller. These were my …
Survivor Portraits – Sam Young (Szmul Jungzweig)

August 3, 2020
Sam Young was born in 1925 in Lodz, Poland. However, Sam lost track of his age between 1941 and 1945, due to the disruption the war had on his life.
Synagogues and memory

July 10, 2020
Synagogues and memory When synagogues were forced to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Jewish communities felt distressed; not necessarily at the knowledge that they couldn’t attend, but …
Survivor Portraits – Margot Tischmann

July 3, 2020
Margot was born 1933 in Duisburg, Germany, “when things were already bad,” she recalls. It was the year Hitler came to power.
Black lives didn’t matter: The Afro-German experience

July 2, 2020
Black lives didn’t matter: The Afro-German experience By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet Afro-Germans – Germans of African descent – are among the forgotten victims of German racism and Nazi terror. …
Telling the Holocaust through poems

June 26, 2020
Telling the Holocaust through poems There are hundreds of testimonies in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s collection from survivors who have shared their stories of suffering and survival. It is always …
Refugee Week: An interview with Holocaust survivor Peter Halas

June 17, 2020
Refugee Week: An interview with Holocaust survivor Peter Halas On Refugee Week we share an interview with Holocaust survivor and founder of Seafolly, Peter Halas. Peter shares what made him …
Anne Frank’s birthday: Stories of hiding

June 11, 2020
Anne Frank’s birthday: stories of hiding Today, on Anne Frank’s birthday, we are taking time to reflect on the experiences of Jewish men, women and children in hiding during the …
From Dunera to D-Day

June 5, 2020
On the anniversary of D-Day, we tell the story of Barney Barnett; a Jewish soldier who survived D-Day and fought against Nazi Germany until he was captured.
Survivor Portraits – Joe (Joseph) Symon

June 2, 2020
Joe was born 1925 in Budapest, Hungary. The skills he learned as a boy scout as a child helped him to survive the war.
Remembering the victims of the Farhud

June 1, 2020
Remembering the victims of the Farhud Today we remember the victims of the Farhud (Arabic for “pogrom” or “violent dispossession”) which erupted on June 1, 1941 in Baghdad, Iraq. Over …
A wedding in Theresienstadt

May 19, 2020
This is a story about the wedding of Otto Ehrmann and Elfi Felixova in Theresienstadt in 1943, before the young couple was to learn of their fates.
The stories behind the pink triangle

May 15, 2020
On International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia we reflect on the untold testimonies from the persecuted LGBTIQ community during the Holocaust.
Jewish Doctors – Combatting Diseases During the Holocaust

May 8, 2020
As long as and wherever Jews were allowed to live during the Holocaust, Jewish doctors were indispensable. They also had a slightly higher chance of survival than other professionals.
Newfound friendships in isolation

May 5, 2020
While many Holocaust survivors are feeling isolated right now, we have launched a Pen Pal Project to connect students and Holocaust survivors with one another through letter writing during these uncertain times.
Survivor Portraits – Helen Studencki

May 1, 2020
Helen Studencki was born in Radymno, Poland during World War II. She survived the war initially in a ghetto, and then in hiding.
The diary of Harold Collins: “I have seen dead men laying about by the 100”

April 24, 2020
On Anzac Day, we dive into the diary of Jewish Australian soldier in the First World War, Harold Collins to learn more about his war-time experiences.
Out of Egypt

April 22, 2020
For the Jews of Egypt in the mid-twentieth century, the Passover story was not just a mythical story. This was their story. As a Sephardi Jewish girl born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1939, this was also my story.
Perspectives on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen

April 14, 2020
Perspectives on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen When Bergen-Belsen was liberated on 15 April 1945, a horrific landscape of death and suffering was revealed. News reels, photographs and sketches showed indescribable …
Wash your hands!

April 7, 2020
Wash your hands! Handwashing is front and centre of media messaging right now, so we would like to explore the Jewish religious fixation on the frequent ritual washing of one’s …
A Sephardi Seder Tradition

April 7, 2020
A Sephardi Seder Tradition The rituals of Pesach, or Passover, are observed and interpreted in different ways by different Jewish communities from across the world. In anticipation of the Sydney …
Survivor Portraits – Eddie Jaku OAM

April 3, 2020
Eddie Jaku was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1920 to a loving family that regarded themselves as “Germans first and foremost, and Jewish only in [their] home”. That all changed when Hitler came to power.
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